Gas-producer



* m 3 .11: m m a K 2 m Mm 2 J l them the leading feature is a feed-cone, into the feed-cone is dispensedwit-h and a number UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIcE.

JOHN ZELLWEGER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

GAS-PRODUCER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,394, dated January 22, 1884.

l Application filed December 28, 1882. (No model.)

To alZ whom it may concern.-

. Be it known that I,-JorIN ZELLWEG R,a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Producers; and I do hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, ref erence being had to the accompanying drawings, and to letters or figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The heatinggas produced from'certain fuels in the ordinary gas-producers contains a considerable amount of hydrocarbons and water, the former liberated as vapors by heat, and the latter in the form of steam. If the heating-gas containing these elements is allowed to cool below a certain point, portions of both the hydrocarbon and steam will condense into tar and water, while other hydrocarbons, when heated, deposit carbon as soot. These tar and soot deposits accumulate in the fiues, and, besides representing a loss of fuel, form an increasing obstruction in those flues. The most rational mode of avoiding these tar condensa tions and soot deposits, and of removing the steam from the gas, consists in changing the disturbing elements into non-condensable and fixed gases before they leave the producer. This is accomplished by passing those gases through a body of glowing coke in the producer. Various forms of gas-generators have been designed for this purpose. In most of the top of which the fresh fuel is charged to undergo the process of drying'and distilling, and then to settle down toward the grate, where it is consumed by the incoming air. The steam and' products of distillation can escape from the feed-cone only at its bottom, and in doing so they have to pass through glowing coke and become decomposed and changed into non-condensable and fixed gases. These, together with the carbonic oxide formed below, rise from the coke, heat the feed-cone and its contents fromthe outside, and then flow off through the gas-fines, near the top of the producer-chamber. In some producers of openings are made in the circumference wall in, the region of the glowing coke, to serve as gas-ports. The hydrocarbons and steam on their way. to these ports are decomposed, as before, and escape, together with the carbonic-oxide gas, from below. In a third kind of producer, the outlet for the gas is placed in the rear wall of the fuel-chamber, and about on a level with the grate, and is made to serve also as a discharge-opening for the ashes and clinkers; A gas-producer has also been constructed with a depending wall at the rear of the fuel-chamber, which causes the gas to dip and pass under said partition into a gas-outlet located beyond said-partition. All of these producers have their obj ectional features. The feed-cone of the first class, besides greatly obstructing access to the body of fuel, should be, and usually is, made of metal, in order to resist the/great expansive force exerted by the fuel, and if so made it is soon destroyed by the mechanical and chemical action of heat and sulphur. In the second class, the many gasports form a complicated system of lines, and it is difficult to keep them free from coke and soot. In the third class, the small coke and ashes form so dense and compact a mass that but little gas can find its way through, and the operation of the producer is retarded.

My invention consists of a gas-producer which is free from the objections incident to the forms of producers heretofore used. It is divided into one large fuel-chamber and one small gas chamber or flue by a vertical or inclined partition-wall placed across the.producer and extending down from the cap to a point that is above the level of the top of the air-inlet in the front wall, and the floor, or at least that part of it which is directly under and back of the partition-wall, is made on an incline or in steps, ascending from the front toward the rear and it is made low enough beneath the bottom of the partition-wall to leave a sufficient opening for the escape of gas from the fuel-chamber in front to the gaschamber in the rear. This opening, therefore, forming the gas-port is as wide as the producer, or nearly so, with its top above the top of the air-inlet or grate-opening in the front wall, but not so high but what it is always covered by the body of fuel in the producer. By this. arrangement the steam and the hydrocarbons driven out of the fresh fuel in the upper portion of the fuel-chamber are made to descend through the glowing coke to the gas-port, and in doing so become decomposed and changed into non-eondensable and fixed gases. Steam that may be admitted into the top of the producer must also descend to the gas-port and become decomposed. The inclination of the floor tends, especially in large producers, to shed the fuel from the rear to the front, which has the important effeet of loosening the mass of fuel near the gas-port, and thus to facilitate the escape of gas from the coke; and it further causes the ashes and clinkers to collect near the grate in front, where they can easily be removed. The location of the gas-port with its top above the top of the inlet for air in the front of the pro dueer gives room for a column of hot air between the two points, and thus enables the producer to be run by natural draft as well as by blast. In order to prevent unconsumed air from entering the gas-chamber, the lowest part of this chamber should also be above the air-inlet.

The gas-chamber or gasfiue may be contracted toward the top, and it is provided wit-h one or more stokeholes at the top or rear of the producer,through which holes,by means of suitable tools,the body of fuel can be reached and worked without interfering with the operation of y the producer. These stoke-holes are preferably located so that the fuel can be reached with suitable tools through the gasport and kept in a loose condition. The dividing-wall should be as thin as durability will permit, so as to utilize the heat of the es eaping gases in drying and distilling the fresh fuel. Being a plain wall, it can be built in a substantial manner of durable material, and may be braced by ribs on the gaschamber side. i

The inclined floor of the producer may be curved or straight, or built in steps, and that part of it which belongs to the gas-chamber may be level where it is beyond the reach of the fuel. It may also have an offset or step immediately in front of the gas-port, in order to still better loosen the fuel at that point. The gas-port for very wide producers may be made of two openings, with a pier between them to support the partition.

The producer may have either a step-grate ora level grate, or a hearth, to support the fuel.

I11 the accompanying drawings,which illustrate a gas-producer constructed according to my invention, Figure l is a vertical longitudinalseetion. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 90 .r of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section taken on the line 9/ g of Fig. 1,and Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on the line .2

The letter A designates the fuelehamber; B, the gas-chamber; O, the partition-wall; D, the gas-port; E, the inclined floor, and F the stoke-holes. G is the charging-hole; H, the grate, and K the outlet through which the gas is conducted off.

Figs. 5 to S are sections, corresponding to those above described, of a slightly-modified form of gasproducer, the partition-wall C being inclined, and the rear stoke-holes F being placed in line with the inclined floor and below the outlet K. A. step is also shown in the floor atf.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In agasprodueer, the combination of a front fuetchamber, a rear gas-chamber of the same or nearly the same width as the fuelchamber, an inclined floor common to both chambers, and a partitionwall depending from the cap of the producer and terminating above said floor, so as to form a wide gas-outlet between the fioor and the partition-wall, and the front wall of the fuel-chamber having its air-inlet openings located on a lower plane than the top of the gas-port between the fuel and gas chambers,substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

2. In a gas-producer having a front fuelchamber, rear gas-chamber, inclined floor common to both chambers, and depending partition wall provided with a bot-tom gas-port, the rear or outer wall of the gas-chamber having a stoke-1101c arranged above the inclined floor of the fuel and gas chambers, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN ZELIAVEGER. lVitnesses:

ADoLPH SCHNYDER, FRANK COMPTON. 

